Level 2 OCA Documentary coursework

Exercise

Read the interview with Cia Rinne on The Roma Journeys. Core resources :CiaRinne.pdf

Research and compare Kouldelka’s Gypsies and Eskildsen’s The Roma Journeys. Discuss aspects to do with the photographers intention and the distinctive aesthetics and approach of each body of work.

Josef Kouldelka travelled and lived amongst the Roma people between 1962 and 1971. Having developed a love of the Roma culture and music he immersed himself completely into their way of life.Living amongst the Roma and shunning material wealth Kouldelka commented ” even the gypsies were sorry for me because they thought I was poorer than them” . All of the images are monochrome and I find them quite haunting to look at , “Kouldelka depicts a landscape which has deteriorated into mud and darkness and is almost at the end of the road” (Jeffrey ,1997 p.g 252) . Musicians , children , funerals , homes , families , land and death , are all documented in grainy black and white , however ” the melancholy—–which is prevalent in Kouldelka’s work is also partly due to the socialist dreariness that reigned for decades in the Eastern Bloc ” (Stepan , 2005 , p.g 164 ) . Despite the initial bleakness I felt when reviewing the images there are moments of pure joy and happiness , Kouldelka’s close proximity to the Roma enabled him to document the Roma communities in all their rawness , “ it was the theatre of life . I didn’t need to do anything with it . everything was there . All I had to do was know how to react” (Kouldelka , p.g 258 Magnum Stories) .

Starting in 2000 photographer Joakim Eskildsen travelled with writer Cia Rinne and documented the Roma inhabitants of seven countries over a six year period. Like Kouldelka they spent extensive periods of time living amongst the Roma communities. The images , all taken using available light , are a mix of monochrome and colour recording the people , their homes , and the surrounding terrain. The colours are sumptuous , not garish, and make the images more contemporary and less brooding than Kouldelka’s whilst still managing to convey an insight into the hardships of the Roma’s existence. The long-term project became something that once started by Eskildsen and accompanied by Rinne was impossible to stop “the more we found out about the Roma and got to know them , the more our interest in and liking for them grew” .

Both photographers became assimilated into the communal lives of the Roma people they documented , by living amongst them and gaining their trust they were able to observe freely. Furthermore their respect for the Roma is evident , without this gaining access to intimate moments in the tightly knit communities would have been impossible. Kouldelka and Eskildsen had the same aim , to depict communities frequently misunderstood and viewed with mistrust and make us see beyond the prejudice , to make us care and tell their story.